right now on "showbiz tonight," should david letterman's wife love him or leave him? tonight, the shocking new great debates in the letterman extortion sex scandal. should dave's wife stand by him? and is this whole scandal being blown out of proportion? tonight, "showbiz tonight" with the new burning questions including, did dave make a big mistake by going to the cops? the great debate over kate.

do you feel sorry for kate gosselin? kate crying again in a dramatic brand new interview. >> i'm sorry. the last thing i wanted was to do this show and end up not being able to pay my bills. >> but tonight, "showbiz tonight" dares so ask -- how come so many people don't feel sorry for kate? plus, levi johnston goes nuts in an ad. >> the father of sarah palin's grandson jokes about unprotected sex. tv's first most provocative entertainment news show starts right now. hello. i'm a.j. hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. tonight the great dave debate. there was a raging argument over

whether david letterman's wife should love him or leave him after dave publicly acknowledged on his show how badly his sexual affairs his hurt his wife. does dave's wife want to fix it? "showbiz tonight" with the big dave news breaking today. nothing but public silence from dave's wife. as many people say, there is no way he can get past this crisis until his wife speaks up one way or the other. there was also a startling debate that erupted over whether letterman should have gone to the cops in the first place. would he have been better off settling this privately? and sure, he slept with women that worked for him. sure, he got caught up in a $2 million extortion scandal but we dare to ask, is the whole mess being blown out of proportion? joining me tonight in new york, the celebrity ed for "the stylist" and nicole williams, awe thosh of "girl on top."

let the great dave debate begin. letterman's wife, should she forgive him? keep in mind, here's a woman he dated for more than 20 years and got married and had a son and this was a woman who he said was hurt in a big way by this whole thing. >> my wife, regina, she's been horribly hurt by my behavior. when something happens like that, if you hurt a person, it's your responsibility, you try to fix it. and at that point, there's only two things that can happen. either you make progress and get it fixed or you're going to fall short and perhaps, not get it fixed. so let me tell you folks, i got my work cut out for me. >> i give dave credit for being so straight up about the fact that he's in big-time hot water. ben, do you think that letterman's wife should forgive him and do it publicly? >> well, you know, what's happening to letterman right now is very similar to what we saw happen to bill clinton. and i think the people who loved

dave before will continue to love him but now there's this kind of seedy thing attached to his legacy and his reputation. the difference is that his wife is not political. she doesn't have to do one of those humiliating press conferences that we see the political types have to do, like the wife standing by the podium when the governor admits he's had an affair? i think regina is looking at her options and i don't think she'll be in any hurry to get this done. >> i think the publicity is dave's worst nightmare. the debate rages on the people are argue wlg he should have even talked about his wife. he had always relentlessly protected her privacy. before the show last night, wendy williams told "showbiz tonight" dave didn't have to say a thing about his wife on tv. take a look. >> i think he's handles it very well and i don't think we're owed any more explanation on it. i don't think it's necessary to apologize to his wife or say

anything about apologizing to the staffers on the show. he needs to handle that with the staffers in the boardroom and handle his wife at home. last time i checked, sex between two consensual people or four or however many it was. >> but today, ladies on "the view" praised letterman and they say, bravo, dave. take a look. >> the thing i love that david did was he apologized to his wife. even though they were not married at the time, they were dating at the time. and the fact that he made it public -- >> for 20 something years? >> he acknowledge he had had done something wrong. >> i agree it was important for dave to address this because i think it was important for fans to see his humanity and see he's not callous about what happened to his life. nicole, do you think dave should have left the issue between him and his wife and not said anything? >> honestly, i think he should have put it out there but i don't think we should expect a

response from her. i think that just adds fuel to the fire. she's notoriously private. he's been notoriously private about their relationship. what happens between them happens between them. i think it's great that he did apologize publicly. he's a public man in the public eye. he owed her that. but i don't think we should expect any kind of statement from here. >> here's the thing, everybody today, yourself included, have been calling this thing an apology. comedian, steve martin was a guest on "the view" today and i thought he had an interesting point about the whole wife so-called apology thing. watch what steve martin said. >> everybody said he poll guidesed to his wife. that's not what i heard. he acknowledged that he hurt his wife. his apology is at home. >> yes. >> you know? you can't go home and say, honey, did you see my apology on tv? everything's fine now. >> ben, i think steve makes a

terrific point about that, doesn't he? >> pardon me for being old factsed, but the time dave should have thought about this was when he was seeing these women he worked with. then he should have poll guidesed right up front on thursday to his wife for what he did. it took him the whole weekend to get around to thinking about her at home and i think that will hurt him. >> i disagree. i think that he went out. he told the situation as he had to his public and i don't know -- he stated outright the first night it was revealed he wasn't going to talk anymore about that. i absolutely agree with steve. have the apology at home. i think it was good for him considering he was going to acknowledge this case again, the situation again, i think it's good that he included her in the apology. >> i agree with that. i also think that he couldn't, even though he said he wouldn't talk about it again, how could he ignore it after it became the topic of all conversation throughout the weekend and it

was the first time back on a new show? another argument broke out over whether letterman was right to go to the cops in the first place. in today's "usa today" it's what mark geragos has to said. i handled 15 or 20 cases in the last 20 years and all of these with one exception was resolved privately. i think that's a great point. do you think that letterman really should have resolved this whole thing privately? never gone to the cops in the first place or is that too risky. >> that's interesting. given the cards they had with dave, i think he did the right thing. he had to come down hard on the guy. and most importantly he cast this story with the producer as being a criminal and a black mailer and i think that gives him a position of strength and probably in the circumstances, was the best he could have done. >> all this said, there's lots

of people saying -- and i see your facebook comments, too -- who cares if he took the whole thing public? stop judging him. the whole matter is private comedian lewis black was all fired about it and didn't hold back about it as you're about to hear what he told us. >> you don't need to write for whether you think he's right or wrong. are you a priest? idiots. you know, you don't make a judgment call. he had sex! oh, god! you know, he didn't have sex on tv. privately, and the only reason it had to come out is because some idiot tried to make money off of it. that's the story. his not the story. i'm tired of it. >> well, what do you think? does lewis black make a good point? is the entire mess being blown out of proportion? do people need to shut up? >> at the end of the day, he had sex with a colleague, someone

that's a subordinate. that's illegal. there are ramifications for that. so, yeah, on one hand it happens. i'm a career manager. i can tell you day in and day out people are having sex with their boss. but in this case, where letterman is concerned, this was going to come out. there's no question about it. he didn't have sex with just someone. he had sex with someone who worked for him. that's what makes this case so interesting. and why we're still talking about it today. >> it struck a chord for so many reasons. we don't know if it illegal but there's so many reasons why everybody has something to say about this. thank you guys, appreciate it. here's our "showbiz tonight" question of the day. the david letterman sex scandal, do you think it's being blown out of proportion? vote. that's the question that a lot of people are asking about kate gosselin's brand new teary tv confessions. are they being blown out of

proportion? she says she's broke. jon cleared out their joint bank account. here's what i want to know. how come people don't feel sorry for kate? do you feel sorry for her? also, a great debate over this bizarre new ad featuring the father of sarah palin's grandson. >> levi -- levi -- now, levi johnston does it with protection. >> is that really levi johnston joking about unprotected sex? that's bizarre in itself but the ad is -- wait for it -- for pistachios. it all sounds kind of nuts if you ask me. and michael lohan says his daughter lindsey is hooked on prescription meds. should he just shut his face? this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. and now the showbiz news ticker. the stories making news right now.

we caught up with jamie foxx and he's out plugging his new film

"law abiding citizen." and he told us he's not surprised by the new presidential diss. >> we're so excited about barack obama and he had a great run. nothing was ever said bad about him and now when you hear it, it's like, that's my barack obama. how dare they? you should feel that way. but at the same time that's what it is. that's part of the job. >> i actually agree with jaime foxx. according to the sketch, president obama has done nothing since he got into the white house in the ask it, fred armison as the president, goes through each one of obama's campaign promises. is "snl" on to something or is the show totally off the mark with this? i sent out the showbiz truth squad to check it out. >> a cold open for the country's

commander-in-chief. >> when you look at my record it's very clear what i've done so far. and that is, nothing. >> obama on obama? not really. "saturday night live" comedian's opening sketch stirred up big laughs with a scathing report card on the president which lampooned him as accomplishing nothing since in office, a checklist of promises "snl" he said he forgot to deliver. >> on my first dma office i said i would close guantanamo bay. is it closed yet? no. >> they got some things wrong -- >> bill adair, a nonpartisan fact-checking website that rates the statements of elected officials says "snl" missed the mark on some of its claims. >> i think "snl" glosd over what was a fair amount of progress by this administration. on iraq, saturday night life 'said, not done. and, of course, that's true. they're not done.

but they hadn't promised to be done by now. >> as for health care, adair says "snl" also got it wrong since that legislation is still stalled in congress. but they say the sketch did got some things right like guantanamo bay. politifact says the president she has fallen short on that promise but adair says the sketch won't resonate with the audience as much as this. >> are we not doing the talent portion? >> comic tina fey's dead-on impersonation of sarah palin. some credit it with reinforcing a impression of palin as ill-equipped for the job. but this kind of sting sag tire is something that adair says obama may see more of as he faces increasing opposition. >> this is not a fair portrayal of how obama's done. but it's comedy. it doesn't have to be fair.

>> well, our showbiz on call operators may have to take drastic action very soon. i know for a fact they are getting swamped with more calls than ever on jon and kate. their arms are getting tired. maybe we should upgrade our system to 1970 they swroont to move their arms so much. today we got calls slamming both jon and kate. here's anne. >> as far as jon and kate is concerned, they need to cut ties. get off the air, and get on with their lives because they're nothing but spoiled idiots. >> anne, thanks for telling us how you feel. this is bonnie from nevada and she's also really fired up. >> i think they both need to stop the madness. get together without attorneys. and work it out for their kids. they scream, scream, scream, i'm doing this for my kids. i want may kids to be okay but they do nothing but fight on tv.

>> i implore you, call us at showbiz on call to sound off on this or anything else. our showbiz phone lines are opened 24 hours a day. leave us a voice mail and we'll play some of your calls here on "showbiz tonight" and we're posting them to our home page. kate just went on tv and did this tear-filled emotional interview. talked about how she's broke and claims that jon wiped out their bank account. do people really feel sorry for her? it's the great kate debate. and the father of sarah palin's grandson, levi johnston is doing a brand new commercial for pistachios. he's getting paid for that. in the ad he's joking about unprotected sex. oy! is this nuts or what? and tyler perry's graphic and horrific claims that he was beaten and sexually abused as a

child. why did this star and big-time director decide to open up about this now? this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. here's your showbiz news ticker. more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

all right. did you see this? this guy is bungee jumped from 165 feet in the air and, yes, his bungee cord broke off in his feet and he hit the water at 80 miles an hour and lived to tell about it. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm a.j. hammer. this is really horrifying. something went terribly wrong when this 21-year-old jumper tried to bungee jump for the first time during a vacation in thailand. on the way down the cord detached from his feet and he slammed chest-first into the water at 80 miles an hour. miraculously he lived. this morning on "today" he said

this near-death experience really opened his eyes. >> i've got a brand new appreciation for life and, you know, i think when these things kind of happen you just appreciate the little things a lot more. >> he's decided not to sue the bungee jumping company. i think he's pretty brave or pressing his luck. he says he wants to do it again and go sky diving. a big win for madonna. the mail on sunday published private photos of madonna's 2000 wedding to guy richie and they say the paper has to pay up. madonna asked for $8 million in damages and no word what she got but it was, quote, a substantial amount of money. madonna is donating the cash to her "raising milawi". and a brand new debate over

kate gosselin's teary tv interview. let me tell you, the debate is on. laura writes -- michelle also disgusted by both of them -- let me hear from you on facebook. we've got brand new news on twitter. sign up by going to cnn.com/"showbiz tonight." this is what's coming up at the bottom of the hour on show dispoint. the great, brand new jon and kate debate. kate goes on national tv crying about not having money. should we feel sorry for her? and the great debate over michael lohan's shocking claims that his daughter, lindsey, is

hooked on prescription drugs? should michael shut his face? and scary in a moments more brooke smeeld shields and jim as they crashed into a parked car.

now on "showbiz tonight." tonight, a night of "showbiz tonight" great debates. the raging jon and kate debate. kate gosselin in tears on tv in a war with her husband over thousands in cash. but do you really feel sorry for her? levi! levi! >> now, levi johnston does which the protection. >> levi johnston joking about unprotected sex? is he nuts? the great debate over the father of sarah palin's grandson. lindsay lohan's estranged dad making shocking claims that lindsey is hooked on preskrings

drugs. the debate on whether or not he should keep his mouth shut. and more stories breaking from the showbiz newsroom from the news ticker.

and kate and jon don't seem to care about the kids these days. it's a terrible tragedy and the kids have been lost in the

shuffle so. >> as much as we're talking about the fact that it looks like the tide is turning against kate. she's losing sympathy. she does have the sympathy vote with some. some viewers voted that they had sympathy. this is what erin writes on the "showbiz tonight" face waul. -- ben, what do you think about that? i think that makes a pretty good point. as hard as it is to see through when we have kate talking about buying this ring and kate saying, oh, all this money we've made and i cannot pay the bills now when a lot of people don't believe that. this is somebody with r50e8 problems here? >> i think it's possible that kate can be a person that viewers may not like personally but she still might have a valid point about the $230,000. i don't think that jon has an

equal place at the table. until he justifies why he took the money out or returns it. whatever you think about kate, she's a woman with bills and looking after eight kids jointly with jon. i think she needs the money. >> and at the risk of repeating myself, let me once again suggest that neither of them go on television anymore to complain about what's going on in their marriage. they control it and deal with it between themselves. split up, whatever you're going to do. look after the kids. that's primary and that doesn't seem to be happening. thanks, guys. we have michael lohan's shocking claims that his daughter, lindsey, is hooked on prescription meds. this is sparking a debate. should michael lohan who barely speaks with his famous daughter, keep his mouth shut? and also, the disturbing childhood abuse claims by tailor perry. the multitalented director of stage, film and tv. he said he was so severely

beaten by his dad he thought he would die. and we also have this oh -- >> now levi johnston does it with protection. >> are you kidding me? is that really levi johnston joking about unprotected sex? is he nuts? the father of sarah palin's grandson sparked a new coast to coast debate you won't believe it. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. and now the showbiz news ticker. more story from the newsroom making news right now.

welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm a.j. ham her new york. director tyler perry's horrific abuse claim. he's the super successful director of plays that have been turned into the films. but today, tyler perry is telling his own very tragic personal story about childhood physical and sexual abuse. in a startling opened letter on his own website he recalls one incident when his father beat him writing, my mother was out one night and my father came

home and he was drunk, as he was most of the time. he got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me until the skin was coming off my back. wow! tyler also claims as a child that his mother tried to kill the germ that causes as f asthma and the pore of one of his friends sexually abused him. he said he felt compelled to tell his story after seeing movie "precious." the film stars monique and mariah carey. a brand new "showbiz tonight" great debate as levi goes nuts for pistachio nuts. somebody is actually paying the father of sarah palin's grandson to pitch nuts. everybody is buzzing about levi johnston's new bizarre commercial and it has them asking, has the whole world gone nuts. and the great debate over

michael lohan who made shocking claims that lindsey is hooked on prescription meds, just as lindsey tries to get her career back on track. should michael lohan just zip it? joining me tonight in new york, suzanne, senior editor for "star" magazine. and april woodard, an entertainment journalist. let's kick off the great debrought with levi johnston and the ad campaign that has everybody buzzing today. take a look. >> levi! levi! >> now levi johnston does it with protection. wonderful pistachios. get cracking. >> okay. i don't know about the tag line and what about it is going to make anybody go out and buy pistachio nuts. suzanne, was this company nuts to hire levi for their ad campaign or is this, perhaps, the best train wreck idea ever. >> honestly, i don't want to

think about his sex life when 50i78 eating pistachios. and secondly, i don't know if he's that recognizable of a figure. it's akind of a hilarious commercial but do you really want to think about that when you're eating pistachios? >> april, do people really want to buy the nuts because the nut is in the commercial? >> no, not because of levi. i think it's genius and the person at the advertising company needs to get an award. and that's why they are so interested in the company which is called "wonderful nuts." and we're talking about it and we're not charging them for it and for me, i'm not going to buy the pistachio nuts because levi is in the commercial but the ad is getting all kind of

attention that it might not have otherwise gotten. i think levi would sell brings 23 somebody wanted him to. do you think after this ad his phone is going to be ringing off the hook with more endorsement opportunities? >> unfortunately, yes. i think sarah palin is going the freak out because he keeps going on shows and talking about his sex life with bristol and i think he'll probably star in a reality show, "survivor" maybe? >> good for all of us. let us move on to another great debate. lindsay lohan's dad michael, spilling the beans that he fears that lindsey will die if she doesn't kick what he says is a prescription med addiction. he says, i'm going to get her off the prescription drugs she's on. the within she's not in feature films right now is because she can't. because the girl with all the talent is hidden and buried deep inside this fungus that's grown

because of the prescription drugs. she can't be herself. well, "showbiz tonight" spoke with michael low hand and he confirmed this and he thinks that lindsey is on prescription drugs and wants to get her off of them. suzanne, i think the biggest problem is that the dad is claiming about the claim that she has a prescription drug problem. 23 she did, isn't this somebody they should handle privately? >> honestly, i completely agree. i haven't seen her parents anywhere in the last few months. she's partying in l.a. and all over the world. no one is really standing by her. by the way, michael lohan loves to come out and say these sorts of things when he's promoting something. he has a reality show with jon gosselin he's trying to promote. >> we didn't call lindsey about her dad's comments. showtime we didn't hear from her. she's in paris.

this is youtube video. she's busy at a paris fashion show, all the fashion. she's trying to basically, launch her own dpagsline with a major designer. it seems to me that lindsey is doing what she can to get her career back on track one way or the other. fashion, films, whatever she's going to do and her father is not doing her any favors right now. >> maybe he's not doing her any favors but there's no good time to talk to somebody about drug abuse and maybe he's not able to reach her. maybe she's too busy to take a call from her father. some of his behavior has been questionable in the past. but when i sat down and talked to him i do think he loves his daughter. love doesn't always equal good parenting. maybe this is the way he's trying to get to her. >> i got that, too. suzanne, do you think lindsey's hand is going to be forced and she's going to have to respond one way or the other? >> i think there's definitely going to be a lot of pressure. there's a lot going on the for

lindsey. not great reviews on her fashion show. she hadn't been getting many tv or film gigs so i think she's going to be talking about this. >> i appreciate you both being here. making news plane crash scare. she survived a minor plane crash. here is exactly what happened with this. the plane they were in landed safely but all heck broke lose when the pilot forgot to put on the parking brake and that is when plane rolled and crashed into an suv. luckily no one was hurt. tonight the younger members of the brangelina bunch on twitter? this is the newest picture of the precious twin toddlers that you have to see. and wait until you see the story on where and how it was snapped. now more stories from the

"showbiz tonight" news ticker making news right now.

welcome back to "showbiz tonight." right now the country's newest power couple. michelle obama and elmo? the first lady made her way from 1600 pennsylvania avenue to sesame street. wow. hard to believe it has been 40 years. tonight your first taste of what they are cooking up for the new season. >> hi, everyone. we are here digging up soil because we are about to plant a garden. >> yeah. so we can grow our very own food. elmo can't wait to eat the food we grow so elmo can grow, too.

>> me, too. >> i know you will like these vegetables because in addition to being healthy, they really taste great. >> thanks. we think you are great, too. >> let's hear it for the first lady! >> i will have to start watching again. this season is about being healthy and helping the planet and the street that is home to elmo, big bird and cookie monster are getting a major facelift. a lot of stars are going sesame street for the 40th season. tonight, two scoops of brangelina. they take their twins out for ice cream. tonight we are the ones getting the real treat and that is because we are getting this rare glimpse of their youngest kids. they were with their folks in jordan when they popped into an ice cream shop.

the owner snapped the picture and put it on twitter. as for what they had, brad ended up with a cup of pecan care mel and vanilla. monday we asked you to vote on our question of the day. this just handed to me, our final result chs came in moments ago. kate gosselin, do you feel sorry for her? here are some of the e-mails. that is it for "showbiz tonight." you can always catch us on the 11s. and in the morning we are on at 11:00 a.m. eastern on hln.

a prime news break. congressional leaders met with obama to talk about whether to send more troops to afghanistan. they want adds many as 40,000 more boots on the ground but others pushing a different strategy saying the u.s. can fight the war with more unmanned drone aircraft and special forces teams. and a top commander is being treated for cancer. david petraeus was diagnosised with prostate cancer. he kept this private but key administration officials knew all about it. and tiler perry is sharing a painful past with his fans. he reveals intimate details of

physical and sexual abuse in his child hood.

did cbs dump david letterman over a sex scandal? some say it is time for the king of late night to step off the throne. plus once again republicans are using smear tactics to gain political ground and once again it's working. and joining me on the studio, lewis black. how fabulous is he. all that and more tonight. tonight some people are

saying cbs should fire letterman over the sex scandal but their ratings have been huge. i don't think anyone is getting more out of the scandal than letterman himself. take a look. >> it's fall here in new york city. oi spent the whole weekend raking my hate mail. and it's cold. chilly outside my house. chilly inside my house. i got into the car this morning and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. ouch. and he apologized to his wife, hopefully repeatedly. joining me to discuss this and more is my good pal lewis black.

he is funny. and how he manipulated everybody with apologies and being funny. >> what is extraordinary. for me what was first extraordinary is i had not been watching him in a while and i flipped it on that night and i flipped it on after that segment. >> the night that he confessed? >> the night he confessed. so all that had taken place. and he is going here comes this guest this must be a night he wouldn't want to be here. i am thinking -- then i am switching to news channels to see if something broke during the day that i should know. >> about something other than this? >> so the next day -- >> like they solved the afghan war? >> it was bizarre.

do you care? >> do i need to know this? every time sex happens, it is like sex happened somewhere. >> sex does happen. in my past sex did happen. but, but, it's not about. >>ment and sex but favoritism. because these other girls didn't get to go on tv that the girl who is sleeping with him gets to do. >> maybe they golt other options. maybe they got perks we don't know about. >> there is no perk like the screwing perk. i am sorry. the screwing perk is the biggest perk. >> you know, but we don't know -- we don't know -- maybe the other girls didn't care.

we don't know all the details. >> i am happy if somebody is still screwing. >> i know. that's the thing. >> it is happening somewhere. >> he is 62 years ole and you know it is all about the medication. it is scary to go out of your house. all these old guys are looking at you and they are coming on to me. >> i am 61. does that mean i have like a year left? >> i don't think he is going be fired. >> unless the women were complaining that we don't know about in house. >> the sengd dare story is the sex. then there is the discussion that we can have about what

occurs in a job place. >> that is the only thing that i am interested in. >> you are not interested -- >> i don't care who he had sex with. we don't. >> it is amazing how big a thing that becomes. when is this country just going grow up. when is the maturity come? why do i feel like i am in the sixth grade and somebody showed their pea pea? what is the matter with us? years of this. >> i know. >> there was the whole thing in the 60s. >> it wnt for nothing. everybody is still stoned. they are baby boomers and they are out of it. we are very puritanical country. about birth control, abortion, all the topics that relate to sex, people are very puritanical about. >> they don't ooech teach sex. they don't discuss it unless you tell the kid that it has got be

abc innocence. >> we used to call that vatican roulette. the french must be having a field day. he is not a politician. it is such a big deal. how do you think his wife is handling it? >> i think it's a long day every day. >> he is scared. >> that monologue, that's the moment, it's like you can go through as a economic all forms of held and then you get in front of the audience and you can breathe again and then it is back. right into the tanker. >> i would not want to be there. do you think he will lose any of his female audience. he has 58% female audience. did you know that? someone handed me that statis c statistic. >> i tell you this, i don't

believe any of those statistics. do you believe they really know how many people watch? they are lying. >> you think so? >> they make these numbers up. do you think that the boxes are real? i have met one neilson family in my entire life. 61 years on the planet you would think i would run into two. >> i have never met any neilson. only leslie neilson. >> and she happened to watch my show and it had no effect. >> leslie neilson is a man. you didn't know that? >> that cop guy? >> that's right. did you ever have to apologize for any jokes? >> never. >> you never got in trouble for anything you ever said? >> no. nobody cares. i can say things and it's almost as if i disappear. i will say things that appall me and i go through the next day

and they never notice. i am so below the radar. >> it could be that you are not on network television. when i am on the view i get in trouble with the catholic church. i am catholic so i feel like i can say it. >> the catholic church, there was something on a cd of mine that somebody found in the catholic church. what is the thing they publish? >> the tablet? that's a newspaper that the church puts out. >> i was in that? >> that is better than the "new york times." >> this guy was at home watching the daily show or something. he got a cd of mine. >> that is impressive. i know that guy. we will be back with more lewis black. don't go away.

is it closed yet? no. i said we would be out of iraq? are we? not the last time i checked. i said i would make improvements in the war in afghanistan. is it better? no, i think it's actually worse. >> he's very funny. that was from "saturday night live." cnn actually fact checked that sketch and found it wasn't exactly accurate. gee, comedy writers didn't check

their news facts. that does not happen here. for example, the afghanistan thing was inaccurate, but the gitmo thing was accurate. so just fyi, so back to lewis black. so is president obama's new car smell wore out. >> when people wented into the voting booth that day, some people were just off. >> he did get 60% of the vote. >> they had a big love affair, and i didn't have the one that the rest of the country did, because he was a democrat and that's no better than being a republican. >> you don't think either party is any better than the other? >> i think we're in the high level of screwed. >> how can you think that

there's no difference after the bush administration, which was hideous? >> well, we finally got someone who can speak in a paragraph we can stay awake through, that's a change. >> he's very smart, he's a smart guy. >> he's very comfortable in his own body, which is also like -- bush was like -- was like an alien had been placed inside the skin and you were never -- >> but weren't you impressed at the way he ducked when that shoe was thrown at him? that was the most impressive day i ever looked at him. >> it showed real movement. >> compared to what we had four eight years this guy is -- >> it's a step in the right direction. >> don't you think they're laying a lot of stuff on him to do? he came in with a huge deficit.

bush came in with a huge surplus. he's got a huge deficit. he's got this stupid war in iraq, he's got the war in afghanistan, the health care is in a mess in this country, what more do you want from this guy? >> the first two years is, we as a country and after eight years, we are really reached a level that we were comatose as a people. we were in a coma. >> and his job was like the doctor who comes in and goes, you know, you're going to be able to move your finger today, you're going to be able to move your finger, it will be great. so basically it's just a matter of -- partly, i think there's a stunned quality to what's going on, in the sense that people are -- don't hear him yet because they haven't been talked to in eight years. >> the analogy of the doctor is good. so he comes in and they say, okay, i'm going to fix your finger and the republicans are saying, we want a cure for cancer. >> we want a cure for cancer. >> that's basically the expectation for the guy. >> and they want him to give birth.

i know he's a man, but do it anyway? >> here's what you had to say about obama in your new movie. look at this. >> his appeal to you is understandable. because he is the first president, of certainly in my lifetime who's filled with hope. his -- his nipples are actually bursting with hope. he is lactating hope. >> you know all that hope talk seems like a long time ago, doesn't it now? >> ancient history. >> i think people are angry now. they're more angry. they should have been angry while bush was there, they should have been marching in the streets. but now they're really ticked off. >> now they have got -- >> they started to say, oh, we're going kill grandma, i go, my grandmother's dead, i don't care. where you are going dig her up?

you're going to kill her again? if you can do that, then we should have really great health care, if you can bring my grandmother back to life and kill her again, it would be really great. >> we don't have a lot of time left, and i'm just loving you. have you seen tom delay on "dancing with the stars"? >> you're going to force me to watch. >> you have to see it, yes. ♪ why can't we be friends why can't we be friends ♪ ♪ why can't we be friends ♪ >> we hear he may be dropping out of the show tonight, he's a real crowd pleaser. the guy was indicted for an ethics violation. they don't care, as long as he can cut a rug. >> cut a rug in a pair of pants they don't they color's on our

visual spectrum. >> i have no idea what that is. >> you can't watch the show "dancing with the stars" let alone tom delay. i would rather watch tom delay running with cars. so you put him on and you drop him in and he has to run and not get hit. >> what about running with the bulls in pampaloma? >> that would be even better. >> i think he has changed his image with "dancing with the stars". >> that's the whole concept. i will make my move there. i am going change my image. i'm going to infomercials. i go to "dancing with the stars" and then just crawl into some infomercial. you'll love it. you'll turn the tv on and i'll be selling a brush mop. that guy died, that billy mays.

>> i know he died. >> he died. you know what are you going do do? who knew that people were still doing that much cocaine. that was a shock. check on that, somebody fact check. get me a fact checker. >> we have fact checkers here. >> i know, where are they? i was right. >> you have been so fabulous to have here, lewis. will you come back another time? because i'm hoping to stay on the air. >> i will come back, i'm 12 blocks away from you. >> 12 blocks, come any time? >> i'm one of those apartments that's around your set. i'll come back next time and show everyone. >> before we go, what are you doing besides this movie that you did. you're on the road constantly. >> my movie opens in theaters this thursday. october 8, and then i will be in rockport, rockport, illinois on this thursday and then in davenport, iowa. sioux falls, south dakota, kansas city. >> my god, you're like an atlas.

you know what i'm doing this saturday? i'll plug myself. i'm doing a benefit at your favorite theater. >> that's good for you. >> i'm going to do it to help them raise money. because the arts must survive. >> they've got to because we need to make -- you know, that's our livelihood and i'm still a playwrite. >> you're a playwrite and you write your own material. >> i've got a play out. >> thanks so much for doing this. "stark raving black." lewis stark's new movie is in theaters this thursday. we will be right back after this. >> check those facts. >> check them.

remember when mel gibson got stopped for drunk driving and started spewing anti-semitic remarks at his audiences. today gibson's lawyer got the dui conviction expunged. here to explain how that works is judge larry shine lynn. he said the jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. he then asked the deputy, are you a jew? is this a normal procedure? >> this is a motion to appeal. some states have motions to

expunge. they're going back in time. they're saying that mel gibson completed his probation, and now they're going to allow him to say really, it's a fiction, they're going to say he can go back and plead not guilty and the court's dismissing the charges against him. and it's -- >> does this mean he gets a clean slate? >> it means he has a clean slate if he files an application for private employment for an educational purpose, but if he's filling out an application and it says has your record ever been sealed, he has to state, yes, then the employer, the interviewer states why was it sealed? it really is something to make him feel that he's completed his terrible turn around. he feels like now he's been

vindicated. he needs the sale of approval. >> why did he do it? >> well, the statute provides that the thresholds he's met the thresholds and he's not on probation for any other charges, he has no other crimes he's facing. the court has the discretion, i signed thousands of those motions during my career. the court decided to say yes. i would have say no. >> would you have signed it? >> the facts, the things he said about the jewish people of america and the jewish people of the world is pretty harsh. i might have had him jump through some more hoops before i sign that order. but i don't want to second-guess that judge in california.

>> how often do these cases get expunged? is it a common practice or is it rare? >> it's rare. common law requires that most crime also have their records expunged or sealed. i wanted to see where they go, these files. these files go, if you see "raiders of the lost ark" they go into a big metal box, and they shut it tight. but with the internet, you can find the charges still, and if he has to apply for a license as a lawyer, police, fire, they're going to find out about this sealing, also if he gets picked up for a second dui within ten years, they can purge that, they can look into his record. >> thank you, we'll be back in just a minute.

the democratic party made huge gains in last year's elections, but is the party over? according to a report today, 2010 may be the year of the elephant. with me now to discuss this are andrew wilkow, host of the wilkow majority. plus julie mennen a contributing blogger to "the huffington post. >> if they can find somebody in the water who can be a standard bearer, there's no guarantee

that the republicans are going to take back the house. there are a lot of conservatives who don't like the way the leadership of the party is taking the party. >> what is the leadership of the party? >> well, it means whether it be the sitting senators or the sitting congressmen who comprise the committee chairman, the fund-raisers, whoever it may be that you would comprise the leadership of either party, it's not a republican versus democrat. >> no one has emerged yet from the republican party that looks sane enough for smart enough to lead the party. >> we're not doing that all the time, you asked me a simple political question. >> there's nobody who's bright up in coming out of the party right now. i can't say see it. do you see it? >> i liked mitt romney during the last election, most

conservatives were not fans of john mccain. >> they turn on him for that. >> i don't know about that. i know that a lot of republicans and conservatives held their nose when they voted for john mccain and that's part of the reason why he lost. >> poor john mccain. they say things like that about him. >> i don't feel sorry for him. i think the real problems that the republicans had was the fact that only 28% of americans self-identify themselves as republicans. how can republicans win a presidential election if they have those kind of numbers. i do think republicans are going to win some midterm seats. americans don't like a concentration of power. >> 40% of self-identify as conservative. the democratic party is a much bigger party.

but liberals, self-identified liberals only comprise 20% of that so you have a bigger party with more factions and when those factions get in control, the factions tend to force some of the independent democrats or old school democrats more to the middle and even off to the right. you saw this with the election of ronald reagan, you saw this after hillary. -- hillary care. when you look at the bigger party versus a smaller party with the voter block including independents, the biggest voting bloc in this country is conservatives. >> the biggest voting bloc is independents and that's what all the polls show. but some tend to republican and some tend to democratic. >> after the question about pelosi and the blue dog democrats, listen to them. >> when mrs. pelosi tried to buy them off with christmas tree ornaments the way she did with t.a.r.p. or do you think these people will stick to their guns. >> she'll either beat them to death, bludgeon them to death or

she'll try to buy them off. >> what is she trying to do? >> she's talking politically, she's talking about the power of the house and the committee chairman and the things that leadership can do to dissenting members. >> she's going to bludgeon them to death? why use that kind of terminology? >> that's exactly right, this discourse that's happening in america, i think it's the worst that its ever been and it's really coming from the far right, you're not seeing it coming so much from the far left. >> polls where people are saying should people kill president obama, it's doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. who on earth is going to go into public service? i have three young boys, and i think about this all the time, they're never going to go into politics because look what it's become. the republican party has become the party of no. where's the plan to reform health care, where is the plan to fix the economy? you can't just say no and expect

to win elections. it doesn't work. i don't see it. >> obama's school safety czar, kevin jennings's life work has been the promotion of homosexuality, even in elementary schools and he has demonstrate nod qualifications to make students safe never our schools. president obama should fire kevin jennings immediately s this a public tactic? why are they going there? maybe the guy is gay, is that what this is about. >> no, it's about the 15-year-old kid that came to him with a dilemma about having sex with an older man and jennings saying go out and buy condoms, that's the dilemma.

>> but you can't attack everyone for every single issue. it's the same thing about rogue van jones out. we cannot have this attack on public is everybody is van -- >> van jones said that the -- are polluting the goat toe. >> you'll never find anybody in public service who is perfect. if we start picking apart every single statement that every single person made, we won't have the best and the brightest in politics. >> all of a sudden it didn't exist during the bush years. this complaint about obama as the joker, bush was the joker too, they did the exact thing, the exact same art work. >> wasn't that effort to try to make a bipartisan push. >> remember, he was the decider. i'm the decider. >> obama is the decider now. isn't that part of being the president. >> i think the criticism is that he's not making a decisive move.

he's not being as decisive as bush was, that's the criticism from the left to him, you know that? >> this, again, is a man who represents a party, and it not a republican versus democrat thing, it's a bigger party with more factions and it's harder to heard all those captains to one place and come out on top. >> i don't agree with that at all. if you look at the republican party, you've got pro choice republicans, you've got moderate republicans, you've got evangelical republicans and you have just as many factions within that 28%. >> i don't think they have factions as vocal and aggressive. >> trent franks had a good one too. listen to this. >> obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries. he has no place in any station in government and we need to realize that he's an enemy. >> these are very inflammatory statements to be coming from the right from obama. we did not hear these things when bush was in office.

>> you heard alan grayson saying it is -- >> people are -- >> so nobody dies under socialized med anyone everybody lives? >> first of all, what he was saying -- >> you're intimidated by the pin. the american flag pin, you can't say anything unpatriotic, what he was saying is that basically we have no --. >> the thing about the pin is if a democrat goes on the air and he's not wearing a pin, he's considered unpatriotic. the republicans have decided, oh, yeah, you have to wear the pin. >> this is my one suit for me personally i have one suit that i keep the joy behar show, it's the pin is always there. >> we're going see the hat, we're going to see the t-shirt. i feel like we can't even talk about afghanistan because republicans are saying how can

you leave afghanistan, the republicans are saying they are the party of the people. >> from the beginning -- >> they should have gone into afghanistan in the first place. so democrats are now saying, hey, we don't know what to do now. >> we should have gone in then and spent all our money and bloodshed on iraq and everybody's angry about that. we'll get to that another time. >> thank you so much for coming on, flag pin and all. when we come back, mel gibson is back in the news. god help us.

today a judge in beverly hills granted mel gibson's request to expunge his dui conviction as he has pleated his three-year conviction. malibu police pulled mel gibson over in 2006 because his car was weaving all over malibu. he was drunk and raving about the jews. and not raving in a good way. what he said was the jews were responsible for starting all the effing wars in the world and

asked the cop if he was jewish? why did he do that? was he look for a bat mitzvah guest? no mel gibson is what we used to call in the old neighborhood an anti-semite. and an f'ing one at that. as far as the dui being expunged. you can run, but you can't hide, and you're famous, and not necessarily for being a movie star. more people saw your mug shot than your last three movies combined. i can understand you want a do over, who doesn't? look, i wish i had never eaten those first ten canolis but i can't have them expunged from my thighs. here's a tip if you want to make peace with the jews. do a remake of yentle, only in your case, call it menta. 6

beauty pageants are the american's fast food and run away capitalism, but now kits as young as 6 years old are competing in beauty pageants all over the country. joining me to talk about this is simon dunan, creative director of barnie's new york story and a pageant mother featured on tlc's pageants and tiaras. there's a lot of people putting their daughters in child's beauty pageants?

>> yeah, we get some. but with anything you got to take the positive and the negative. and i knew that going into it. it kind of snowballed into what i thought it was going to snowball into. i never dreamed that it would become so successful. she has her own facebook page, a fan's page on facebook, and we have our own film that we're filming. which is what i wanted is to get her used to being in the public eye and as he got older, if she wanted to continue in pageants, that was fine, but at least it gave her the foundation for her to be so timid or shy if it was going to be like that. we don't have to worry about that because she's not timid or shy. >> there's some that say that

kids in beauty pageants grow up to be insecure. >> there's always something somebody's got to say about everything. that comes with life. i don't worry about it. i raise my daughter, how my husband and i and my mother see fit. we are teaching her all kinds of things and pageants are such a small part of our lives and it's a hobby. i think the good outweighs the bad completely and i've got to do what i feel is right for my child. >> let me show the audience a picture of your daughter here, it's cute. there she is. now she's only 4 years old. i think you were a former beauty queen yourself, and i don't know how far you got in the beauty queen business, but do you have any feeling that you're feeling vicariously through this child?

>> if i was 25 i might have, but i'll 45 years old next weeks, and i can't believe i just said that on national tv. but i will be 45 years old next week and i have traveled, done a lot of things, traveled around the united states. i wasn't going to have any children, i teach school and my husband and i went on a cruise at 39 3/4 and came back with little eden and she has just been like a gift from god. >> let me interrupt you for a second because i was reading that you spent $70,000 on her career so far. that's a lot of money to spend on a career. i hope you're also saving money for college. are you? >> yes, ma'am, we have got all that taken care of. that's another perk at this point in our life, we have so

much of our stuff that's already paid for, taken care of and i think everybody's kind of focused on that $70,000, but if you sat down and figured up for your little league team how much you've spent. >> look at the picture. this is a little girl, well a young little girl. now dan rather has referred to these kinds of pageants as kiddie porn. do you think they're kiddie porn? >> i think people tend to want to see very sinister and disturbing in child pageants and i wrote the introduction to suzanne's book and to me, they're just enormously playful and i think best-case scenario, they actually teach kids a certain amount of endurance and resilience and to me they're no more sinister than cheer leading or little league, there's

something very playful about it and i quite frankly, joy, i'm very jealous. >> you're jealous of them? >> i'm jealous that my childhood, post war england, i wasn't learning to twirl a baton and glue on eyelashes and wear sparkly clothes. >> so as a little boy you would have liked do that. >> i would have loved to. >> so you think it's kind of entertainment for these children. >> yes, i think we all see something sinister in it, we can all see something sinister in it. >> it's dressed up like adults is what it is. you took that picture of your child at 18 months? what's the purpose of this picture? why dress these children up. >> she was at the pageant and she sat in front of the camera. what is the purpose of these pageants to make little girls seem like adults? to me it seems to sexualize them a little bit. >> you know, i think it is a great subject of

photography which is why i pursued it. i was researching beauty pageants as a subject for photography and i stumbled upon a my first child pageant. soy went into it without really having thought much about it, really, or researched it. and just started from a photographer's point of view, from an artist's point of view, taking the photographs. >> one of the things i was reading, these pageant girls -- we're going to come back. i have to ask you this one question. hang in there. thanks for mickey wood for joining us.

okay, are you ready? >> close your eyes and close your mouth. >> one, two, three. close your eyes. >> turn back around, lexy. now turn. >> come on. >> it's okay. it's okay. turn around, now wipe it off your back. >> lexy, you did a good job, though. >> that's a clip if tlc's "toddlers in tiaras." back with my panel discussing a polarizing phenomenon, child beauty pageants. first of all, they're spraying

the kid with tanning stuff. it's sort of abusive. that kid did not look like she's enjoying it. i'm sorry, i don't think it's so great >> i think it's easy to look at that and think there's some kind of abusive scenario going on, but i think children are naturally exhibitionistic. and when you see a pageant, when you see these incredible photographs that susan's done, you see this natural exhibitionism. that children's desire for attention is a very adaptive part of their personalities. >> they may want attention, but not necessarily in these sexualized outfits. >> i don't get the sexualized bit. i don't know what you're seeing. >> well, i've looked through the book and a lot of these kids look like grown-up girls. they look like miss america and they're like 18 months. >> i think they're emulating miss america, right? it is a pageant, it's child pageants. i think that's the role model, you know, they're going to work their way up to miss america. >> the other thing, they wear fake tans, fake teeth. doesn't it give the message to these kids, you're not really beautiful the way you are. already, we're doing basically plastic surgery on little kids that are 4 years old. i think it's a little much. let them work for the botox.

>> i just have this deep-seeded feeling that a pageant kid, just like the beauty queen, they're not the one who ends up huffing glue in the parking lot or doing crack. they're the one who ends up married to a local business man or doing the weather or like yourself, a successful tv personality. you were a pageant girl. >> when i was a kid, i was very funny as a kid, and i was always making people laugh. but there was never any feeling that i was being sexualized in any way. >> i don't see the sexual thing. if anything, the children are made to make look like dolls. i don't get the sexual things. >> you don't see it? >> there's the fairy tell princess, there's the sparkles and the pink and the glitter and everything. >> i equate it more with toys and dolls and fantasies. >> here's a kid in a bikini. okay. that is a kid in a little bikini. >> they wear swimsuits in pageants too. >> but she's also wearing makeup and got the housewives from new jersey hairdo. >> i think you're jealous.

>> she's 5 years old. >> i'm jealous? don't project, simon, you know it's you who's jealous. you don't see anything wrong with this? >> but the other girl in that same spread was wearing a fish costume. >> i think more like a sexy fish costume. some of it looks like halloween costumes. >> a lot of it looks like madame alexander dolls to me. >> but they're not dolls, they're human children. they're not dolls, you know? look at this? look at this one. that is a sexualized pose of a child, i'm sorry. >> two words for you, shirley temple. she was like a child pageant -- she was this tall, this young, tiny, tiny. people said, oh, she exploited, she became a senator, for christ's sakes. >> yeah, but she also felt there were old men coming on to her. i read her book, mm-hmm. simon, susan, thanks for joining me tonight and thank you for watching. good night, everybody. tune in tomorrow.

breaking news tonight. to satsuma, florida, where 5-year-old haleigh cummings gets tucked into bed, just five hours later she's gone. vanished. the back door propped wide open. daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little haleigh. the last person to see the 5-year-old alive that night, new stepmother misty croslin. bombshell tonight. little haleigh's disappearance, the nine-month search for the brown-eyed 5-year-old, and the finger pointing at the babysitter turned stepmom misty croslin, all finally take a

toll. d-i-v-o-r-c-e. that's right. divorce. the two agree to formally split. but why now? has father ronald cummings' worst fears been confirmed? that new stepmother misty croslin implicated in the disappearance of his 5-year-old girl? tonight, with us live, taking your calls, ronald cummings. >> last night at chili's. >> what did he do? >> he got down on his knees and said will you marry me? >> the tensions are rising between ronald and misty. she's taken off again. she needs her space. >> focus on my daughter going

missing and not what's going on in my life besides my daughter going missing. >> okay, sir, let me talk to your wife. let me get some information from her. >> how the [ bleep ] can you let my daughter get stole, [ bleep ]? >> can i talk to her? okay. >> have you asked her what happened? >> i ask her. but that -- i don't get any answers from her about, you know -- i don't see -- what she's telling me is not inconsistent. >> they go out and look for the right person, they would have the answers. but they're trying to get all the answers from me. >> do you think misty holds some information that could help do that? >> i don't think that she holds any information. >> everybody knows that i love haleigh and ronald and junior. i just want haleigh home. >> i have stated all along and i will continue to state that my grandchildren love misty and that misty loved my grandchildren. good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. tonight, little haleigh's disappearance. the nine-month search for the

brown-eyed 5-year-old. and the finger pointing at babysitter turned stepmother, finally all take their toll, d-i-v-o-r-c-e, divorce. but what, if anything, does it mean in the search for haleigh? >> everybody's probably going to take this marriage thing the wrong way, but it's not. it's still focusing -- things are still focused on haleigh. this is what haleigh wanted. she's always talked about it. >> when did you last see her? >> it was about 10:00. we were sleeping. >> what will it take for misty to come back home and tell us the truth? >> do you feel misty is the key to this investigation? >> no, i don't. i think they're barking up the wrong tree. >> ronald is doing the best that he can to encourage misty to get with law enforcement and tell them anything she may have forgotten. >> do you believe that misty was indeed home and that she's been telling the truth? >> yeah, i believe she's telling the truth.

>> i don't care who it is. but we want haleigh to come home. >> as you sit here, do you believe in your heart that they see you as a suspect? >> no, i don't. >> i don't either. i talked to the lead detective. his name is john legend. >> and he said? >> he doesn't think that she's a suspect. >> everyone, you are seeing earlier video from nbc's "today" show. i want to go straight out to marlaina schiavo, our producer on the story from the very, very beginning. she's joining us from st. augustine, florida. marlaina, divorces happen every day. they're a dime a dozen. why is this significant? >> nancy, this is significant because all along during this entire time everybody's been questioning ronald. and they've been questioning this marriage and why now, why

after the last person to see haleigh gets married to the father of little haleigh. and now, after everything, they are splitting up. they've been saying for a long time that this has not been affecting them. they've been saying that they have not been fighting. they've been saying that, you know, misty was on vacation when she went to orlando. now we know why she's in orlando this time. it's because this marriage is ending. >> joining us tonight exclusively and taking your calls live, he's not afraid of the light of the camera or answering your calls. he has taken a lie detector test. we have been told that he passed. the biological father of little haleigh, ronald cummings. as you all know by now, cummings at work at the time little haleigh goes missing. comes home to find not a trace of her. all he finds is his then girlfriend at home with her hands wide open, where's haleigh?

ronald cummings, why now? why a divorce now? many people say your worst fears have been confirmed, that you along with the rest of the country, believe that croslin knows more than she's telling. >> miss nancy, i'm not sure that's the case. it's just we can't go anywhere without being -- you know, it's a hard -- it's hard enough to be a married couple, and then we can't go anywhere without being questioned or people staring at us or anything like that. >> okay. so you're getting a divorce because people stare at you? i don't believe that for one minute. >> no, that's not why i'm getting a divorce. i'm -- that's a part of the reason why i'm getting a divorce. >> then why are you doing it? >> the two of us -- the two of us have agreed to go separate ways, and if in the long run something comes about haleigh

then she can -- you know, it will be whatever. >> are you trying to say -- >> i still don't believe -- go ahead. >> are you trying to say in the long run you may get back together, in the long run she may finally tell you what happened that night? in the long run what? >> that, miss nancy, i'm not sure what's going to happen in the long run. i can't predict the future. but i would sure hope that just with the family problems and everything else it's just -- it's too much on the relationship. >> when you say family problems, are you referring to the fact that her family says she's not telling the truth about the disappearance of your little girl?

her mother, her brother, and others? >> well, it's not only that. it's also, you know, the fight and everything -- it's just everything. >> we are taking your calls live. with me, ronald cummings. today it is announced that he is divorcing girlfriend-turned-stepmother misty croslin, the last one to see this little girl alive, little haleigh cummings. the tip line, 888-277-tips. 8477. there is a reward for help in finding little haleigh. her family still believes she's alive. out to the lines. brenda in west virginia. hi, brenda. >> caller: hi, nancy. welcome back. >> thank you. thank you. and i'm going to thank you again. but thank everyone for your prayers for my mother. i really appreciate that. >> caller: yeah. what i wanted to know was why did they wait so long to search the pond? you know, that pond never went nowhere, and all this time was wasted.

why didn't they search that pond within a few days? >> good question. to ellie jostad, our chief editorial producer on the story, what about it, ellie? we heard all these stories about this pond. then not one but two letters emerged, detailing an alleged party late that night when haleigh went missing, a party fueled by drugs. there was an allegation little haleigh accidentally ingested oxycontin at that party, that she died, and that her body was disposed of in that pond. do i believe it? no. simply because, ellie, you know a bunch of people at a party are not going to keep their yaps shut. >> right. >> all right? that's the only reason i don't believe that story. go ahead, ellie. >> well, police won't say that the letter was the cause of the

search. they said they already knew about this pond, they'd searched around it in the past and that they'd planned to do a more thorough search. so they won't say there's a cause and effect between that jailhouse letter and the pond being searched. >> out to the lines. portia in florida, hi, portia. >> caller: hi, nancy. i'm actually calling from california. >> good to know. portia in california. thank you for calling, dear. >> caller: thank you for taking my call, miss nancy. >> yes, ma'am. >> caller: my question is has anyone, the police or mr. cummings himself, have they -- i understand that little haleigh has a medical condition. have they looked into whether or not she was given her medication that night, and if so, perhaps

that would give them a better time frame of the last time, you know, that she was in the home. >> now, portia in california, that's an excellent question. to ronald cummings, he is taking your calls tonight on the heels of a divorce announcement in the last hours. he is splitting from girlfriend turned stepmother, the last person to see haleigh alive. her story has come under fire. misty croslin. ronald, was she on medication for the turner syndrome? >> miss nancy, she was on medication, but at the time the only medication she needed was her albuterol treatment, which came in a breather. so all she has to do is a couple squirts and that's it, so that her asthma is -- so she can breathe well and she's not wheezing. >> correct me if i'm wrong, ronald, but the albuterol, the inhaler, you can't look at it and tell how much is in there, correct? >> no, ma'am. >> so you don't know if she used that before she went to bed or not. was her inhaler still there? >> yes, ma'am. >> so the inhaler was still there. everyone, with me tonight, ronald cummings, the biological father and guardian of little haleigh. the search is still on. but tonight, another wrench in the works.

a divorce for ronald cummings and stepmom -- new stepmother misty croslin. we are taking your calls live. ronald cummings answering your calls. as we go to break, i want to thank you for all of your thoughts and your prayers for my mother, elizabeth. i'm happy to report that tonight she is stabilized. once again, god answers prayers.

i love her like she's my own and i'll do anything to get her back. >> big news in the search for little haleigh cummings. we're hearing her father, ron cummings, and his teen bride, misty, are headed for divorce. >> ronald told her on sunday that he wants a divorce. on monday he headed to st. augustine to his attorney's office, and then by monday afternoon she was packing her stuff and she left town. >> being married, it can be stressful, and there can be challenges. add on top of that everything that they went through during their marriage. i think it would be virtually impossible for any couple to survive that. >> she is the one that holds the key information to finding out what happened to this beautiful little girl. i mean, who was with her? the last person with her. she was. >> miss neves, i don't mean to grill you. but it just doesn't all fit together. >> to me it's a very dysfunctional family. and that's the best way i can describe that. >> they go out and look for the right person, maybe they would

have the answers. but they're trying to get all the answers from me that i don't have. >> have you asked her what happened? >> i ask her, but i -- i don't get any answers. >> what, if anything, does a divorce at this stage mean in the search for little haleigh? taking your calls live tonight, haleigh's father, ronald cummings. let's unleash the lawyers. joining me tonight out of new york, family law attorney, child advocate sue moss. out of los angeles, eric chase. a defense attorney out of new york, renowned attorney jason oceans. straight to you, sue moss. weigh in. >> he's divorcing her before the prom. maybe she'll go with her felon mom. i mean, only stevie wonder didn't see this coming. but this should be a simple case. and that's because florida's a no-fault state, which means either party's entitled to divorce for the asking.

unfortunately, because of ron's being laid off, there's really no support issues, there's probably no property to divide, and certainly there's no children's issue because the couple never had a child together. >> to ronald cummings, ronald, who wanted the divorce? you or her? >> i think we both agreed on it. >> who brought it up first? >> i did. >> and what did she say? >> she agreed to it. >> immediately? >> not really immediately, but pretty close to immediately. >> so at first she did not want the divorce? >> not really. >> eric chase, l.a., what do you make of the fact that a lot of people speculated she wanted to marry cummings so he could never testify against her? but in florida the law is very different than it is in a lot of other states. explain, chase. >> well, she would have been

very wrong if that's what she assumed because in florida there's an exception to the marital communication privilege and that exception is if it involves harm to a child of one of the parents. she could have been forced -- i'm sorry, he could have been forced to testify about her if he knew anything. and by the way, nancy, it doesn't appear that he does know anything about misty's involvement in -- >> put up the lawyer. put up the lawyer. chase, he's divorcing her. all right? it doesn't mean he was there at the time the child went missing. but certainly, he has heard varying and conflicting stories from misty croslin. i mean, i have. and i'm 1,000 miles away. so don't say he doesn't know anything. okay? >> well, you're right -- >> maybe he doesn't want to know anything. >> well, there's conflicting stories, but i haven't seen anything, any evidence connecting misty to her disappearance other than the fact she's been unable to retell the story the same way more than once. >> well, you know, jason oshins, to me, that's a problem. >> yeah. >> i've seen a lot of witnesses, a lot of witnesses, they'll add to the story. they'll say oh, yeah, and i

remember kpt "x," and i remember it was a red car. and it had glass packs or it had -- this was the tag number. but they don't change the story. the story doesn't change. i have a problem with the story changing. >> well, it's -- >> to me that's evidence. >> nancy, it's the inconsistency. any good investigator will tell you that over time the consistency of the story, or for that matter the inconsistency will continue to lead investigators -- >> put chase back up. >> -- toward targeting someone. >> put the lawyers back up. chase, did you hear that? >> i did. but you were a prosecutor, nancy, and you used to argue to juries -- >> so? >> you used to argue to juries -- >> so? >> that your witnesses had problems keeping the story straight as they told it time after time after time. >> i know you were going to make a point. somewhere in there. i'm wading through it. >> we don't expect witnesses to remember everything perfectly every time they tell the story. >> not what i said. i said the story changed. ronald cummings, did it ever disturb you that misty croslin's story actually changed? >> yes, ma'am, it did.

>> i hope that they -- they find my child alive, obviously. but one way or another, i want my daughter to come home. i need some closure. haleigh will wake up at

haleigh will wake up at nighttime. she gets cramps in her legs. you know. she didn't make no noise that night. i would have woke up if i heard any noise. i mean, i didn't hear anything at all. >> you've been in the trailer, just like we have been, and somebody pounding on the front door as close as her bed was to the front door, you would hear it. >> i tend to think that she was very exhausted, and i think the children would have been more likely to hear it. >> i mean, i was really exhausted that day, you know. really exhausted. when i laid down, i guess, you know, i was out.

>> joining us tonight, ronald cummings taking your calls. ronald, as we went to break, you told me that changes, even subtle, small changes in misty croslin's story about the night haleigh went missing bothered you. >> yes, ma'am. >> what changes, if any, do you recall? >> i can't really recall the exact changes. and they're real small. it's not like she -- she pretty much tells me the same thing each time i ask her about it. so -- >> yeah. ronald, what did you -- >> there might be a difference in the way that it's worded, but -- what did i -- >> what did you make of those letters that emerged detailing a party that night, that the writer claims little haleigh was at? >> miss nancy, i didn't make anything of them letters,

because i'm waiting on the detectives to call me and let me know, you know -- >> well, i don't make anything of it either. i don't make anything of it either because you know a bunch of potheads at a party are not going to keep their yaps shut. they would have all been talking about that all up and down the street. okay. ronald cummings, let's go to the lines. you ready? >> yeah. yes, ma'am. >> jamie in kentucky. hi, jamie. >> caller: hi, nancy. i love your show. and your mother's in my prayers. >> thank you. >> caller: i have a question for ronald. i know if it was my child i would use every tool available. and i'm just wondering, you've got these renowned psychics, they've got their own shows on the bio channel. i mean, has ronald used a psychic or thought about trying to find one of these famous psychics to help him locate haleigh? >> good question. ronald, i imagine that psychics have volunteered their services. is that true? >> yes, ma'am. a bunch of them. >> do they all -- >> none of them have been successful in finding haleigh. no. absolutely not. >> have they tried? >> they've tried.

but everything they say, we're still without haleigh. so. >> what were they saying? did they actually come down and search? >> yes. there was a few that did. >> they've been on me for six months. they haven't left me alone for six months. i've been the one, the main focus. they just need to move on and look for the right person. ííí

>> i know i didn't do anything to that little girl. i would never hurt her. i mean, they love me. they -- i mean, they look at me i would never hurt her. i mean, they love me. they -- i mean, they look at me like their mom. >> do you feel that misty has the key to this investigation? >> no, i don't. i think they're barking up the wrong tree. >> it's definitely an issue that she's 17 years old because she doesn't have those adult thinking skills that a lot of us

would have, even though she's leading a very adult life. >> the police have not -- still have not been able to put together a timeline on exactly what happened that night because of her inconsistencies. >> she took that police polygraph. i don't believe she took -- she passed it the first time. i don't believe she did. now this one. then there was that voice stress test. i mean, something is wrong with her story, ronald. >> i don't know, miss nancy. >> everybody knows that i love haleigh and ronald and junior. a family. just like haleigh wanted. >> the last holdout, the last person that is giving her an ability to go out and not to tell the truth is ron. it seems to me that they should put their foot down and tell misty that the time for being vague is over. >> when you go to pick up your son and you see misty, have you tried to speak to misty croslin about what happened that night? >> no. >> why? >> i can't.

>> why? >> because she was the last one to see our daughter and i just -- i -- >> i mean, if somebody was the last person to be with my child, john david or lucy, and police say they have the key to what happened, i would at least say "what happened?" >> well, i haven't seen her since the results. but i did talk to her on the telephone, and she was telling me she had no problem with me and that she didn't have anything to do with our daughter going missing, that she was at home and all this stuff that everybody's saying is lies about her. that's the only time i've talked to her. >> okay. well, you've got to take that with a box of salt because what do you expect the ex-wife is going to say about the new girlfriend? okay? that's never good. we are taking your calls live. to jane velez-mitchell, host of hln's "issues" and author of a fantastic new book we're going

to talk about shortly. jane, what about croslin's mother behind bars? they already put the squeeze on her brother, who coughed up quite a bit of information in a late-night jailhouse interview. now mommy's behind bars on a forgery of a check. >> and she remains behind bars. and i think that the whole effort of law enforcement is to put the squeeze on this family because who would misty confide in? if she was going to tell one person what really happened that night. mama. of course she would confide in mama. and what's the best way to get mama to talk? keep her behind bars. it worked with the brother. it will ultimately work with the mom. although it will take longer. >> the mom is now extradited from tennessee to florida. in a nutshell, nutshell, what did the brother cough up? >> well, i mean, he essentially said he went over there that night, knocked on the door, and nobody was home at the crucial time when misty said she had put the kids to bed but she was still up and there was a tv on.

so it just doesn't add up. the brother essentially completely busting her story wide open. >> with me right now, mike brooks, former fed with the fbi. mike, thank you for being with us. weigh in. >> nancy, you know, as law enforcement says, the only thing about misty, the only thing consistent with her are her inconsistencies. two failed law enforcement polygraphs right from the beginning. they wanted tim miller to come back and help them look again, and he says no, i'm not coming back unless you take a polygraph. she took a polygraph. she failed that also. you know, there's just all the pieces in this timeline from the very beginning just don't add up. and if she wants to help law enforcement, then come back from orlando, sit down with or without your lawyer, and tell the truth. period. >> with me right now, exclusively, ronald cummings. taking your calls. now, that's brave. not just talking to the police but talking to the country, live.

ronald, mike brooks makes an excellent point. why won't she come and sit down with police and talk to them? >> that, miss nancy, i can't answer for you. i'm sure that maybe her attorney can answer it for you. and hope thefully that she will. >> uh-uh. uh-uh. no. you have to have talked to her about talking to the police. what did she say? >> we have talked to her about talking to the police. >> what did she say? >> she said she's talked to them. >> they want to talk to her again. why won't she do it? >> i have no knowledge of them wanting to talk to her where she wouldn't do it. >> okay. let's go to terry shoemaker, attorney for haleigh's father, ronald cummings. okay. you know, i know, the police know, the rest of the country knows the police want to talk to misty croslin. it's not a secret. so how can she with a straight face that she does not know they want to talk to her?

please enlighten me, mr. shoemaker. you've got a good reputation. >> right. well, i think everyone knows the police would love to sit down and talk with her. it's my guess that probably her attorney isn't allowing her to do that, which isn't uncommon in this type of situation. >> okay. back to you, cummings. your lawyer knows police want to talk to her. so do not lie to me. you've never lied to me before to my knowledge. don't tell me you didn't know police want to talk to her again. we all know it. we've talked about it on this show, on national tv. now, i'm telling you, police want to talk to her. now, why is she back in orlando and not speaking to police? >> that i'm not sure, miss nancy. i already told you the same as what terry said. it's probably due to her attorney, his advice. >> she actually -- stopped by the putnam county sheriff's department today to inform them of where she's going and where she'll want to be if they wanted

to speak to her. >> you know what? i didn't get that whole thing. with me -- let me introduce you. brandon beardsley, family law attorney representing ronald. repeat, sir. >> my understanding is before she left for orlando that she stopped by the putnam county sheriff's department and reported in and told them where she was going if they needed her. >> did they try to question her? did they try to question her at that time? >> not to my knowledge. all i know is what i was told. and of course it's hearsay. but i was told from a reliable source that she did check in -- >> well, mr. beardsley -- >> -- before she left town -- >> mr. beardsley, this is not a court of law. so -- >> i understand that. >> -- you don't have to make your own objection on hearsay. i find it very difficult to believe that she was at the police station and nobody threw a question at her. but who knows? for all i know she went in and -- >> well, they can't. >> -- talked to the secretary. >> if she goes in and her

attorney's not there and they know she's represented they can't just question her. you know that. >> yes, mr. beardsley. i do know that. but when someone voluntarily marches alone into the police station -- repeat, voluntarily -- certainly, you know, mr. beardsley, that even when one is represented by counsel, if they voluntarily speak to police, that that is admissible in a court of law. yes/no? >> yes, ma'am. you are correct. but -- >> we are taking your -- >> listen, all i -- all i know is what i was told. i don't know if they questioned her or not. >> well put. out to the lines. barbara in missouri. hi, barbara. >> caller: hi, nancy. >> hi, dear. what's your question? >> caller: i was just wondering why they aren't looking at misty's brother more. he put himself at that trailer. just because he said he knocked real loud and left does not mean he didn't try the door. we know one of the doors was not locked because there was no break-in. so what if he went in, everyone was sleeping, and he took the little girl? >> to marlaina schiavo, what

about him? he does place himself there. >> he does place himself there. but to say that his door -- their door was not locked, we're not entirely sure what happened that night. we know the door was propped open on the side of the house, but we don't necessarily know who propped that door open. so we don't know if the door was unlocked, nancy. >> okay. we don't know if the door was open. that's not really knocking me out, marlaina. what about it? to you, ellie jostad. what do we know about the brother? >> well, we do know that the brother has spoken to police and they say that he's not a suspect, same with the rest of misty's family. police continually go back to their line they've said, especially since haleigh's birthday that haleigh -- rather, i'm sorry, that misty is the person ho holds the key, that she's failed to give a detailed account of what was going on that night, and they want to know from any other citizen who might know what she was doing that night, they want them to come forward and speak to them as well. >> leslie austin, psychotherapist, new york, weigh in quickly. >> i'm not surprised ron is being really careful. he doesn't want to tick her off. she's the only one who has a clue.

she's not going to talk either. she just wants to save her skin. right now she's walking in the street, she's not in jail. why would she talk to anyone? like casey anthony. >> well, leslie austin, once again you've made perfect sense. quick break, everybody. we're taking your calls. live with us tonight taking your questions, ronald cummings, haleigh's father, this on the heels of an announcement just hours ago, divorce. what does it mean in this investigation? and tonight, a special congratulations to liberty united methodist church, macon, georgia. hearing the call to serve others. they are building a beautiful playground, redesigning, painting, and kicking off their very first parents' morning out to serve others. today, the most beautiful playground equipment, swing set, tunnel, steps, the works, have arrived on the scene. it's love in action. and god bless the little children that are coming your way, liberty methodist.

she can't help that. she can't help she was the last one to see her. could have been any one -- any one of us and our children. >> they've been married just shy of seven months. and today ronald cummings' lawyer told us he and misty could be headed for divorce. >> she had nothing to do with this. we've -- i had nothing to do with this. >> beardsley says the couple is under a lot of pressure because of rumors and speculation surrounding haleigh's disappearance. the pressure, he says, is just too much. >> came home this morning to find out that i didn't have a child, that somebody stole my child. it's not like a bicycle or a car. somebody stole my child from me. >> she's gone. and that's all i know. >> there's a lot of tension. it's very tough for strain on a relationship when there is something that you think maybe needs to be told and you're not getting that information. >> we are taking your calls

live. out to jan in ohio. hi, jan. >> caller: hi. love your show, nancy. >> thank you. >> caller: i have a comment and a question. >> okay. >> caller: my comment is i guess that i feel ronald is very vague in his answers as why he's filing for divorce, and my question is why doesn't he just step up to the plate and say that he feels her story is not true? everybody else sees it. why doesn't he? >> ronald cummings, you want to take a shot at that one? >> no, ma'am. brian can take care of that. >> okay. go ahead. go ahead, mr. beardsley. >> listen, this couple have been in the media spotlight for months. they can't go to the grocery store together. they can't go to the supermarket. they can't go out and eat. and anytime they're together they get scrutinized. and it puts a lot of pressure on a marriage. i don't know of any married couple that their marriage could last -- >> mr. beardsley, no offense. you have a wonderful reputation. i've checked you out thoroughly. but nobody gets a divorce

because somebody looks at them in the check-out line. i'm not buying that for a minute. what i am buying is that you guys don't want to tell me why the divorce -- or if cummings wants to admit he does not believe croslin's story. that's his business. i asked the question, you guys didn't answer, but i want to bring this back to haleigh. a 5-year-old little girl is missing tonight. to dr. gwen o'keefe, pediatrician, and ceo and founder of pediatricsnow.com. dr. o'keefe, thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure, nancy. >> a child with turner's syndrome, what problems does she face if she's still alive? >> you know, nancy, i've been thinking a lot about that. there's two issues here. the first is her asthma, and the second is her turner syndrome. with her asthma i'm very concerned that she doesn't have her inhaler. with the stress of being missing and with the change in season right now, especially if she's exposed to the flu, that is a

gigantic concern. she's likely experiencing some asthma symptoms, and without that inhaler she's likely getting into trouble. with the turner syndrome we didn't hear about any known issues, but those kids have issues with growth. they have issues with their endocrine systems. even if she doesn't have issues now, she needs very close monitoring of things like diabetes, possible heart problems, possible kidney problems, possible high blood pressure. there's a whole host of problems, including of her heart. so without very close follow-up, she could really get into trouble quickly. >> ronald cummings along with lawyers terry shoemaker, brandon beardsley, thank you for being with us. mr. cummings, i can say that tonight for the first time i don't believe you. i think you do suspect your ex-wife, soon to be ex-wife's story. i think you don't want to discuss it in the midst of a divorce. why? i don't know that yet. but i'll find out.

thank you for being with us. right now with me jane velez-mitchell. take a listen. >> the haleigh cummings case. did the little girl accidentally overdose on oxycontin? we've got a copy of a letter that places misty cummings and little haleigh at a wild drug-fueled party the very night she disappeared. the author of the letter says she's just paraphrasing a theory police got from somebody else. the writer of the letter essentially claims the whole story is a big lie. tonight's big issue, keeping dark secrets. if misty croslin cummings does indeed know more than she -- >> you know, i've been reading my book, "eleventh victim," but forget about that. here is jane velez-mitchell, my friend, my co-worker, here on hln. jane, i'm completely knocked out. you know what? there's not a lot of ways to say it, but let me say it nicely. you've got a lot of guts. >> thank you, nancy. >> you've got a lot of guts.

tell me about the book, "i want," by jane velez-mitchell. >> i wrote this book because i struggled with a lot of problems. and why waste a problem? i've found solutions to -- >> wait, i've got to write that down. why waste a problem? i've never thought about it like that. >> why waste a problem? yeah. i struggled with alcoholism for most of my life. i finally by the grace of god got sober 14 1/2 years ago. >> praise the lord. >> yes, praise the lord. it was a miracle. and i don't use that word lightly. >> hold on, let me step back. how did you -- i mean, look at you, you're young, beautiful, talented, smart, education, the works. how did you get in the bottle? >> well, i believe i have a genetic predisposition, which i describe in my book, which i dedicate to my father, pierce mitchell. my dad was a high-functioning alcoholic. so i think i had it in the genes. but i also saw it environmentally. i didn't realize people didn't drink every night until i got out into the world and started to see that people didn't drink every night. >> that's crazy. because i never saw anybody drink until i went to college. >> and that's probably why you don't have a --

>> somebody handed me a beer and i poured it into a plant because i thought it smelled bad. okay, now -- >> you're lucky. >> so you grew up in this environment. and when did you realize -- what made you realize you had a problem? >> well, i blacked out. and that's the classic hallmark of alcoholism. i wouldn't remember what happened after a certain hour. and that was very, very terrifying. in fact, all the stories we cover, you and i alcohol and they don't have a clue, and i went through this whole process, they can save themselves a lot of hell and a lot of heart ache. drug addiction, it only gets worse, its progressive. >> and looking at you, i mean, nobody would believe you have ever had a problem. >> well, the people who knew me way back when would, because

they saw me in action, and i was very lucky, i didn't get a dui, but i was a lush. >> jane velez-mitchell, you know what? she has a heart of a pioneer. her new book, "i want." i'm so proud of her and i'm so proud she's with us tonight.

jane velez-mitchell, my friend and co-anchor here on hln, new book "i want." you know, a lot of people keep their problems hidden. my problems, i don't want to talk about them, i don't want the world to know my problems. what went through my mind and my heart in my deepest, darkest time, for instance after my fiance was murdered. but you don't care. >> i really don't. they say you're only as sick as your secrets. a lot of the crimes that we cover, you've got to cover it up with secrets, you lie, and lie, lie and then it blows up in your face.

i'm not in secret in month. when i tried to deal with my alcoholism, i became dependent on sugar, then i became a workaholic. >> do you think that the work holism stemmed from the same reason from the alcoholism? >> yes, when you take away the alcohol, you try to use something else. some people use food, some people use sex, some people use gambling. it's the desire to escape and what we learn in sobriety, that i describe that in my book, that i was taught by any mentors in sobriety, to sit through the feelings, the unpleasant feels that come up. >> everybody, we have put jane's book on our website, you can get it at headline news, hln. i really hope that for any of

you that are battling demons, this helps you, "i want" by jane being a cop, leaves behind childhood sweetheart wife michelle. parents james and katherine. adam muller, american hero. thanks to our guests, see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. until then. good night. .

i'm aj hammer in new york. this is some of what we have on show biz tonight coming up at the top of the hour. should david letterman's wife love him or leave him? is this whole scandal being blown out of proportion? the new kate debate. she is crying again. do you feel sorry for her? also, levi goes nuts in a new add. the father of sarah palin's grandson joking about unprotected sex? and stars come rushing to defend president obama over that brutal snl sketch. that is your show biz tonight

news break. here on hln.